Counter Entropy House Receives Fifth Place

The Solar Decathlon Europe is an international student competition for the improvement of awareness surround solar energy. The goal was to develop an innovative house that could be solely operated with solar energy. The interdisciplinary RWTH Aachen team developed a 46 square meter large solar house during a two year project phase and proved itself in an international competition  of 18 universities from 13 countries the last two weeks in Madrid.

 

During this period, the solar houses were evaluated by a renowned jury in multiply disciplines such as architecture or sustainability. Team could also obtain points through measured data in categories such as comfort conditions or electrical energy balance.

The Counter Entropy House acquired the following assessments in the individual competition categories:

2^nd place Architecture
1^st place Light Design
3^rd place Communication and Public Relations
1^st place Interior Design
3^rd place Industrialization and Realizability
3^rd place Sustainability
4^th place and special mention Energy Efficiency
4^th place Innovation

Things got exciting once again during the award ceremony in Pabellón XII, near the competition grounds. Four of the ten competition disciplines were first announced right at the end. The large hall was filled to capacity and over 400 decathletes excitedly monitored the award ceremony.

RWTH Aachen received fifth place in the overall judging. The French team "Canopea", whose country is hosting the next Solar Decathalon in Europe in 2014, was awarded first place. The other German team "Ecolar" won fourth place.

Using the theme "Re-think. Re-use. We build.", the team created a house that was not only fulfilled the high architecturla and technical requirements, but that also minimized the ecological influence on the environment, through the re-use of difference materials. A weatherproof facade was created from 46000 CDs, a 200m² large parquet floor from the old support beams of the old Aachen Tivoli Stadum stands, and the interior furnishings from old furniture and truck plans. Through this approach, the team looked for a sensibilization of how one can use everyday objects, no longer used, in another way.

The Counter Entropy House will be centrally constructed at the Forschungszentrum Jülich in a few months for further research purposes. The house offers interested visitors an opportunity to tour the house in Germany.